Reflector



May 25; 1926. 1,585,712

H. c. HAWKS V REFLECTOR Filed March 21, 1923 ZSheets-Sheet 1" j Inverflor. Horcnio C.Hclwks May 25 1926.

H. c. HAWKS REFLECTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 21, 1923 l l l I l l l I l l l l l I l1 Invenior. Hororio C. Hawks ATTys.

Patented May 25 1926.

U sn stars EN T HORATIO C. HAVKS, OF NEWTON CENTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WHEELER REFLECTOR COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- onusnr'rs.

REFLECTOR.

Application filed March 21, 1923.

This invention relates to electric light reflectors which are specially designed for service out of doors and for illuminatin large surfaces such as billboards.

The electric lights which are used for this purpose are usually placed at the upper edge of the billboard and have associated therewith a reflector for reflecting the light toward the billboard. the billboard from the upper side it is, of course, desirable to distribute the illu1nination evenly as possible over the entire area of the billboard and one object of my invention is to provide an improved reflector for an electric light which accomplishes this purpose and by means of which the lower portion of the billboard is illuminated substantially to as great an extent as the upper portion adjacent the light.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved form of reflector which lllllll'llHZR-iJGS a rectangular area, the advan tage of which is that when several lights are needed for illuminating a long billboard they may be so placed that the rectangular area illuminated by the several lights will meet or slightly overlap with the result that the billboard throughout its entire length will be provided with a substantially even-illumination and without any spotty effects caused by a higher illumination at some points than at other points.

The reflectors which arecommonly used in electric lights of this type are made of sheet metal and are provided on the interior with awhite enamel coating which constitutes the reflecting surface. Thereflectors are usually made with joints or seams in the reflecting surface.

When a porcelain or enamel coating is applied to sheet metal it is impossible to properly coat the edge of the sheet metal because the enamel will not adhere to a metal edge and where the sheet metal reflector is formed with a oint or scam the overlapping edges of the sheet metal at-such joint or seam will not become properly coated with the enamel thus leaving exposed places that are subject to rust.

One feature of my invention relates to a reflector having a rectangular opening through which the light is directed and which is made free from seams in the reflect ing surface so that there is no danger of deterioration due to rust along the seam.

In thus illuminating Serial No. 626,686.

In the drawings wherein I have illustrated a selected embodiment of my invention, Fig. l is a side view of a reflector embodying my invention with a portion broken out;

Fig. 2 a rear view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view illustrating my invention as applied to the illuminatii'lg of a billboard;

Fig. 4 is a view illustrating the manner in which the reflector gives an even illumination over the entire ill minateol area.

The reflector herein shown is provided with a neck portion 1 and a reflector portion 2. The neck portion has located within it a lamp socket 3 adapted to receive an incandescent lamp l. The reflector portion '2 is formed with the front wall 5 and the rear wall 6 and with the two end walls 7.

The interior of the reflector portion 2 is provided with. a reflecting surface and the reflecting surfaces of all the walls are flat. The rear wall 6 inclines downwardly and rearwardly from the axial line of the neck portion 1 and its lower edge 8 is situated substantially opposite the source of illumi-- nation.

The front wall 5 presents two portions, an upper portion 9 and a lower portion extending from the lower edge of the upper portion to the lower edge of the reflector. The upper portion 9 is flat and inclines downwardly and outwardly from the axial. line of the neck and extends to a point about opposite the lower edge 8 of the rear wall 6. The lower portion of the front wall is also flat and has an angular relation to the upper portion 9, said lower portion extending from the lower edge of the upper portion '9 downwardly in a direction opposite to-that in which the upper portion extends or in the same general direction as the rear wall 6. The lower portion terminates in a lower edge 10 which is considerably below the lower edge 8 of the rear wall and which is very close to the axial line of'the neck. The side or end walls 7 connect the front and rear walls and are also flat straight walls. Both the front and rear walls are narrower at their upper end than at the lower end, and the end walls thus have a converging or non-parallel relation. Furthermore, the end walls 7 occupy vertical planes when the reflector is suspended with the neck 1 in vertical position the planes of the end walls having an angular relation.

The opening through which the light rays are directed onto the illuminated area is in a plane at an angle to the axial line of the neck and the relation between the side or end walls 7 is such that the opening formed in this inclined plane is a substantially rectangulargopening as best seen in Fig. 2 with parallel top and bottom edges 8 and i and also with parallel side edges constituted by the lower ends of the side walls 7. Fu thermore, since the walls 7 occupy vertical planes any section through the reflector takeuparallel to the plane of the rectangular opening will also be rectangular in form with straight parallel top and bottom edges and with straight parallel side edges. As theresult the area which is illuminated by the light directed through this opening will be a rectangular area.

The reflecting walls are so dos have such relation that when the r iector isused for illuminating a bill board, as shown in Fig. 4-, and placed near the u per edge of the billboard in such a position that; the axial line of the neck is substantially vertical, the entire face of the billboard which is illuminated by the light c 'rected through the open side of the ref? will be substant ally uniformly illuminated.

This is an important consideration in the illumination of billboards because it eliminates the presence of spotty effects due to greater illumination at one portion of the .board than at another. The illumination which the billboard received is due partly to the direct illumination from the lampd and partly to the indirect, or reflected, illumination. The direct illumination included'by the lines 13 and 14 will be of greaterintensity'at the upper portion of the billboard than at the lower portion because of'the fact that the source o o -ht is nearer the upper part of the billboard than the lower part. This deficiency in illumination at the lower part of the billboard is, however, made up by reflected light. The reflector is so, constructed that the greater portion of reflected light is directed onto the lower portion of the billboard and a suliicient amount of this reflected light is so directed as to make the illumination at the lower portion of the billboard sul mtially as great asat the upper portion. The re fleeting surface 5 is so disposed r ative to the light 4 that the light rays str g said reflecting surfaces are to a great extent reiectcd downwardly onto the lower portion of'the illuminated area 12. The light striking the reflecting; surface 6 is reflected onto the'surface 5 and thence to a gz'reatertent onto the illuminated area 12. The en cos 7 are also ar ang ed so. that the light which strikes them will be largely reflected to the vertical edges of the illuminated area and toward the lower portion thereof and ly this means the deficiency in direct illumination at the portions of the illuminated area which are farthest from the source of light is made up by the reflected light which is received on those portions. l Vhile the angular relation between those reflecting surfaces may be varied more or less withoutali'ecting the principle of the invention, yet I find good results are obtained when the wall 5 has an angle of between and degrees to the Xial line of the neck and when he wall (3 is made an angle of between and degrees to said axial line and when the end walls 7 are so disposed relative to each other that the angle between them will be approximately degrees. This angular relation, however, may be varied more or less without departing from the invention.

l z here the area to be illuminated requires several reflectors these will be so placed that the illuminated areas 12 of adjacent reflectors will meet each other or slightly overlap as shown in 3 and thus the billboard or other area to be illun'iinated will be evenly illuminated throughout its entire length and f1 om top to bottom thereof.

As stated above the reflecting surface in these reflectors is usually secured by providing the reflector with an interior coating of enamel or porcelain. t is, however, almost impossible to coat the edge of a piece of sheet metal and where the reflector is made with a seam or joint it will be found very difficult, if not impossible, to so apply the coatingof enamel or porcelain to the seam or joint as to prevent any rust from occ rring. l' Jhere these reflectors are used out of doors it is, of course, important to eliminate the possibility of rust occurring because if any portion of the surface rusts the reflector is soon destroyed.

I secure this advantage herein by making the reflector surfaces entirely free from joints and scams and this can conveniently be done by striking up the entire reflecting portion 2 of the reflector from a single sheet of metal so that the reflecting portion is an integral structure without scams or joints. l i hen a reflector of this sort is coated with enamel or porcelain an inner reflecting-r surface can be produced which is entirely free from any joints or seams and, therefore. has no part which can be attacked by rust. This I regard as a very imp rtant item because areliector which has a reflecting surface free from portions that can be attacked by rust has a much longer life than one having seams or joints in its reflecting surface.

The neck portion 1 and reflecting portion 2 may be connected in any suitable way. In the construction shown the reflecting: portion has the flange 17 formed thereon which telescopes into the neck 1 and is secured thereto by welding, riveting or in any other suitable way. This flange 17 may be conveniently formed on the reflector member by the dies which are used in shaping said reflector, and with this construction the only scam in the entire structure is that between the flange 17 and neck 1, which is outside of the reflecting surface. The reflecting surface, therefore, is entirely tree from seams or joints which are difficult to provide with an enamel coating.

I claim:

An electric light reflector for use in illuminating billboards and other vertical areas, comprising a neck portion having a lamp socket therein for receiving an in candescent lamp and a reflector portion prerenting front and rear walls and end Walls connecting the tlront and rear walls, the rear wall being flat and extending downwardly and outwardly from the neck at an angle to the axis thereof, and terminating in a straight horizontal lower edge situated substantially opposite the center of illumination, the front wall having a flat upper portion extending downwardly from the neck in an inclined direction opposite to that of the rear wall and to a point about opposite the lower edge of the rear wall, and a flat lower portion extending from the lower edge of the upper portion downwardly at an angle to the upper portion and in the same general direction as the rear wall, said lower portion terminating ina straight lower edge parallel to the lower edge of the rear wall, but at a point considerably below the rear Wall, boththe rear and front walls being wider at the lower end than at the upper end, and the end walls being also flat and occupying vertical planes situated at an angle to each other, whereby a rectangular opening is formed through which the light from the lamp is directed, the walls having such relation to each other and to the light that the amount of reflected light which is directed onto the lower portion of the illuminated area is enough greater than that directed onto the upper portion thereof so that the deficiency in direct illumination at said lower portion due to its further distance from the source of light is overcome by the increased amount of reflected illumination.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HORATIO C. HAWKS. 

